Other voices: The most encouraging news out of Albany

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The Middletown Times-Herald Record:

The most encouraging news out of Albany in a while concerns private talks to decide who will run the state Senate.

In the past, the party with even a one-vote majority had control because senators faithfully follow their leaders. Majority control brought higher stipends, larger staffs, better offices and knowledge that one of the three men in a room was one of their own.

This election was supposed to calcify that arrangement, allowing leaders in the Assembly and Senate to reap the rewards of election districts created to help elect members of their own party with little opposition for the next 10 years.

Republicans even managed to add a district in an attempt to solidify their control. Then, the voters took over and with some races still not officially decided, it appeared that the GOP plan had backfired. Democrats seemed to be on their way to a slim majority and all of the perks that come with it.

Now, however, there are signs that what used to be taken for granted, the absolute tyranny of even a single-vote edge, is up for negotiation.

As reported by Ken Lovett of the New York Daily News, Albany may see the kind of government we are more used to hearing about in countries with parliamentary systems. Some Democrats are talking to Republican leaders, Lovett found out, to see if they can work together to run the Senate in a more bipartisan fashion. Although Gov. Andrew Cuomo is officially staying out of these discussions, anybody who has watched the governor operate knows that he is not likely to let this go on without the guidance of his invisible hand.

As Lovett found out, Albany insiders see this as a big plus for Cuomo, who could rely on this coalition to back some of his fiscally conservative policies and some of his socially progressive ones.

A real coalition in the Senate would be tantamount to something many New Yorkers have dreamed of, a third-party approach even if there is no new third-party label attached. A truly bipartisan group would have to work toward compromises that help all New Yorkers and give up on the petty fights and power plays that often dominate the Legislature.

And if the Senate can operate this way, there might be hope for the Assembly as well, if a few Democratic loyalists start thinking about compromise as a sign of strength and not one of weakness. Enough Senate Democrats looking for clean and effective government are reluctant to turn control over to their own leaders who made a mess of running the Senate before. Assembly Democrats need to learn the same lesson and act on it.